MRF F1600 triple-header to highlight 12-race card

Sports Reporter

Thursday, 19 July 2018

The championship returns to the MMRT after a gap of five months after the first round in February and the next in Coimbatore last month.

CHENNAI: The third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship which has never failed to dish out high octane action while witnessing emergence of fresh talent, gets off to a start at the MMRT here on Friday even as the competition hots up among title contenders in various categories.

The championship returns to the MMRT after a gap of five months after the first round in February and the next in Coimbatore last month.

A card of 12 races has been scheduled for the weekend, which also includes Volkswagen Ameo Cup.

The three races in the MRF F1600, now in its seventh season, has proven to be an excellent platform for young guns to showcase their racing talent. The added incentive to the winner of the championship in the MRF F1600 is the chance to participate in the Mazda Road to Indy shootout in the United States later this year. The winner of the shootout will receive a scholarship of $200,000.

The previous round at Coimbatore witnessed the emergence of the 19-year old Ashwin Datta from Chennai who won all three MRF F1600 races in a display of raw pace that blitzed the field and gave himself a head-start in the championship.

The other open-wheel single-seater category, Formula LGB 1300, threw up three different winners - Team MSport’s Nabil Hussain and Sohail Shah, and Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) - in the season opening triple-header in Coimbatore last month that accurately reflected the competitiveness of the races.

MOHITE LEADS IN AMEO CUP
The Round 2 of Volkswagen Ameo Cup is again expected to dish out its share of thrillers as witnessed in the previous round at Coimbatore where Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite achieved a creditable double to take a firm lead in the One-make touring car championship.